“You doing anything for your Geburtstag Tal?” Gret queried as we headed out to the Hymer.
“My man did mention going to Koblenz, lunch in the Altstadt.”
“Some nice restaurants there,” Mand enthused.
“It was mentioned,” Tal hinted at the Toon.
“Ah did?” Josh queried.
“Josh!” the female contingent chorused.
“Looks like you’re caught hook, line and sinker,” Daz chuckled.
“Ah guess like,” the big lad agreed.

“Someone's phone,” Angela hinted as we trundled back north an hour or so later.
“Gab,” Mand stated having recognised the ringtone.

After a manic search of my kit bag I found it just as it stopped.

“Damn.”
“Well aren’t you going to ring back?” Tal queried.
Of course i recognised the number, “er later.”
“It’ll be Max,” de Vreen espoused.
“Might be,” I allowed with a blush.

Gret snatched my Handy from my grip.

“Hey!”
Her fingers were like lightning, a moment later I could here the phone ringing out, “there.”
“Hmmph!” I managed before grabbing it back and scrambling through to the bedroom.

“What’s up?”
“I love you too,” my beau offered.
“All that stuff likewise, so?”
There was a sigh at the other end of the airwaves, “so how’d you get on?”
The boy’s learning. “well it was close but I got the better of Cav and a hundred euros.”
“That’s good right?”
“Yes that's good,” I allowed with my own sigh, “so why the call, we’re still on the way home.”
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? Dunno, hadn’t given it much thought.”
“You fancy going to Moselfest?”
“Don’t be daft, you have to buy tickets like months ago and they cost an arm and both legs.”
“Seriously.”
“Really? Its a bit short notice.”
“You want to go or what?”

Do I? Its one of those things you talk about but with one thing and another never get around to doing, especially with my racing and now the kiosk.

“How’d you get tickets?”
“Soph.”
“As in your cousin, lives in Stuttgart, Sophia?”
“The same, they just turned up in the post this morning.”
“And you’ve only just called?”
“You were racing earlier and then you didn’t answer the first two times I called, so, you want to go?”

Bum, back foot or what.

“Wouldn’t mind, need to clear it with the olds.”
“There’s four tickets, you think any of your girl friends would want the spares?”
“Con’ll be working, and Nen, dunno about the others, hang on, how we getting there, isn’t it down Cochem way?”
“Mum said she’d take us in the Porsche.”
“Er right, look I’m in, when do you need to know the others?”
“Soon as I guess.”
“I’ll call you back.”
“Love you.”
“And that stuff,” I allowed before ending the call, an idea bubbling in my head.

“I think we spawned a monster,” Jules opined.
“Regular Jekyll & Hyde our Gabs,” Mand agreed.
“What are you two rattling about?” I queried, turning from the mirror.
“By day, a mild mannered schoolgirl, by night a bitchin’ rock diva,” Jules announced in fair imitation of one of those film announcers.
“Huh! you’re only jealous.”
“Not many,” my sister admitted, “we were supposed to be going with Gretch and Jo but we got caught in that ticket scam.”
“Bummer,” Mand noted.
“You never said?”
“Nothing to say, you borrowing the boots?”
“The forecast is dry,” I mentioned.
“Wear ‘em Gab,” Mand instructed, “you’ll look one hot momma for Max.”

That got another snigger from my sister.

“She hasn’t twigged?”
“Don’t think so hen,” Josh advised.
“We’ll be there in,” I looked at Max for the information which he mouthed back, “thirty minutes, be at that bus stop right?”
“We’ll be there like, gotta go, she’s just coming down now.”
“Later.”
I ended the call and stowed my Handy.
“Everything okay?” Gloria asked.
“All set,” I confirmed making myself comfortable again.

When I suggested it to Josh he was straight with it, the thought of a day doing the tourist thing around Koblenz wasn’t exactly filling him with glee even if he would be with Tal. And Max was remarkably happy with the idea, maybe the thought of being the token male in a hen party wasn’t filling him with joy either, at least with Josh along we’d be in couples. Although that hadn’t been my main consideration it had occurred to me that I’d get some quality Max time in today, more than a dinner invite would allow for sure and without any of the girls playing gooseberry.

“The first bus isn’t for hours,” Tal complained checking the timetable.
“There should be one along shortly,” Josh told his girlfriend.
“There’s nothing on the timetable,” she stated.
“Its not on there, its like a special,” he proposed scanning the road for sight of the Porsche off roader Gab said she’d be in, this could all go to pot fast.
“Special?”
“Er yeah, it only runs summer Sundays like,” the Tynesider hedged.
“Need a lift?” a familiar voice enquired.

He’d missed the four by fours arrival and nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Gab? What are you doing here?” Tal queried.

“This isn’t the way to Koblenz,” Tal observed.
“Isn’t it?” I mild offered.

I could see Gloria’s shoulders going in the front.

“Why should we be going to Koblenz?” Max enquired.
“Josh Waugh, what’s going on,” Tali cautiously enquired.

“Thanks mum,” Max allowed as we unloaded an hour later, still a bit of a walk from the festival site but as close as we’d get in the car.
“You sure you’ll be alright getting the Bahn back?”
“They’re putting extra trains on from Bullay, if it looks like we’re gonna be stuck we’ll call.”
“Dad said he’ll fetch us if need be,” I offered.
“Well have a good time and be safe.”
“We will,” Max told her before shutting the door.

Of course we’d had the lecture on the way down to Neuwied, it was kinda essential teenage parenting lecture number twelve, don’t do this, don’t do that – well you know the stuff. We joined the good natured, shuffling bodies heading across the Mosel to Neef and the festival site occupying a loop of the river. It was only ten but there were already the first strains of music drifting across the water.

“Better than the museum in Koblenz eh?” I suggested as we queued to get in.
“I feel a bit under dressed,” Tal told me.
“You’re fine, I’m the odd one with all this clobber on.”
“Nah Gab, you fit right in, I did wonder why you were dressed up like Nena Hagen when we got in the car.”
“My sister,” I sighed, “every time I go to a concert she dresses me like a Barbie® doll.”
“The bunches are maybe a bit much,” she snorted.
“There a joke?” Josh enquired.
“Nope.”

We shuffled forward, the gate staff efficiently scanning tickets and moving people through into the site, no mean feat with like tens of thousands of music fans coming. Our turn came and I have to admit to breathing a sigh of relief when our tickets scanned no problem and we were admitted to the inner sanctum of Moselfest.

So unlike some music events where there are multiple stages, here the music is mostly restricted to the main arena. There are a couple of smaller stages outside but mostly its food and trinket stalls, stuff for the kinder, you know, like face painting and kiddy rides. According to the programme I snagged, the main stage wouldn’t get going until later so we started out by exploring the commercial opportunities.

“You should so get them Gab,” Tal encouraged.
I checked my reflection again, “they’re a bit big.”
“That’s what makes them cool,” she told me.

To be fair I was quite taken with them, the ohring that is, quite a way from my usual little studs or simple rings.

“Go on then, you getting the choker?”
“Josh? Am I getting this?”

He sighed and passed her a twenty euro note.

“I think that's a yes,” she beamed.

I got a bit distracted by the unaccustomed weight of the dangling fish bones swinging from my ears, enough that I wasn’t following the conversation.

“We should use the facilities before we go in the arena,” Tal suggested.
“Er right,” I agreed.
“We’ll grab some drinks,” Max volunteered.
“Würst?” I proposed.
“I don’t know where you put it girl,” Josh mentioned with a roll of eyes.
“In these boots, you don’t think they got this size on their own do you?”
“Come on Gab, lets find the lavs.”
“I think they’re down that way,” Max volunteered pointing across the field to where I could just see a host of blue Toi Toi’s.
“See you in a bit,” I told the lads before hurrying after an already departed Tali.
 

Maddy Bell © 9.11.2017